Beef Wellington

Thanks Albert and Mark and all for the likes
All steps now fitted and fenders and chesstree

Regards
Paul
 
 

Thanks everyone for the likes 
Four steps fitted, glued and pinned with copper wire

Regards
Paul

And the paint cue

Main guns, the aftermarket provides resin blast bags, barrels and metal backs. 

Starting on the bridge, formast and fore funnel 

I really lost the detail of the side armour panels. So I scribed them again and gave them a dark grey enamel wash to bring out the detail. 

Thanks OC. Now, next step, ruining a perfectly good paint job, chipping time. Grunge time next. . 

So, a couple of coats of chipping fluid then a base overcoat if Red Brown, and a highlight coat with Raw Sienna to bring up the highlights of the panels below the waterline. 

Cannons looking great OC!  Are you doing hauling tackles?  Must be pretty tiny at 1:72.

Good afternoon everyone
 
i hope to have the foremast completed today, but each time i put a line in the Longbridge book shows another, 





 

YES Wallace the running rigging came first, seams a long time ago now Aug 2016

Great result on the pumps Pat, and happy new year to you and yours.

Cannons looking great OC!  Are you doing hauling tackles?  Must be pretty tiny at 1:72.

Cannons looking great OC!  Are you doing hauling tackles?  Must be pretty tiny at 1:72.

Hi folks a small update.  These only stand 11mm tall and the thicker looking handles only 0.8mm - may change the handles as they look a little too thick but were supposed to be more substantial for two men to operate it.  The downton pumps are assembled with one dry fitted to the base/plinth n which it will stand on deck.  The next thing is to clean them up a bit and a final coat of white.
 
Wishing all a very merry and safe festive season
 
cheers
 
Pat


 
 

Hi again folks,
 
Checking in with another small (and I mean small) update   While it may appear not much is being done, you are right - as far as the model goes not much has been done.  however, in the background a lot has been done.  
 
Most of my time has been doing the drawings for the Photo Etch parts (which should be completed this week).  These include the chain plates, rigmaiden lanyards, deck winches, some fine gratings for skylights etc.
 
I have also been busy with research getting ready to draw the plans for the spars, rigging and sails.  Ed Tosti has been a great assistance in that YA has many common features and he has been most helpful.  I have also been into our Public Records Office and made a great find - the actual 'Rigging Warrant' for the ship which lets me know what where wire rope, chain or natural (hemp) rope was used (sizes and lengths), where shackles and thimbles were used, the number and sizes of blocks, where rigging screws were used and also what lines etc were used with which spar etc.  For example I now know the gammoning was chain and not rope etc.
 
The research also uncovered that there were several drawings/plans (Profile, deck arrangement, midship section, sail plan, engines, boilers, 27ft gig etc) sent back, but unfortunately these may not have been kept - the search goes on however .
 
I have also made some updates to the Downton pumps, managing to make the pump spigot smaller; this is where the 'gutta-purchase' (indian rubber) hoses would have connected.  The updated ones are shown compared with the larger spigot version I had made - old one to the left obviously .  The newer versions reflect the pump body shape better and shown with temporary handle axle/spindle; but I had to replace the spigot on one as the close up showed I had filed at a very oblique angle.  One small detail loss in making the spigots smaller was that I could not add the squared lug on top of the upper spigot cap.  The second photo shows the pumps primed ready for their white topcoat.  This has been done, along with the wood base, but no photos yet.


cheers
 
Pat
 
 

Well my last update to this log seems to have been in September! Then, of course, work took over and I've had precious little time for any modelling until the Christmas break....over the last couple of weeks I've finally found some time to return to both my current builds - Syren and Bluenose. Most of this work has been re-do & repair work....
 
Syren has seen the sweep ports repositioned (I incorrectly marked them from the templates provided with the kit and so ended up planking over them and drilling them out in the correct spots....). I also planked the counter, but noticed that I made an error in the lower planks that abut the sternpost....so I'll have to re-do these eventually....ah well.
 
As for Bluenose, my last post documented the planking of the forward bulwarks and the cutting out of the scuppers forward. This went pretty smoothly with the help of the table saw. The quarterdeck bulwarks & scuppers were another story, though....the problem was with the fact that the quarterdeck bulwark planking did not come level with the waterways at all points. This meant that I had to file scuppers out of the bottom of the first bulwark plank at the forward end of the quarterdeck and out of the top of the upper-most hull plank aft....but because I did not do this as accurately or carefully as I could, there ended up being a small "step" in the scuppers at about the mid-point of the quartedeck bulwarks. Port and Starboard were roughly the same....
 
After looking at this for a couple of months, I decided I could not live with it and ripped the aft planking off. Laying a 3/32" x 1/16 planking strip along the hull , I marked the upper edge of the waterway along its length inboard and thus got a sense of where the scuppers should be positioned. Some of the scuppers can be fully filed out of the bottom of this first bulwark plank. The rest are only lightly scored and finished on the next bulwark plank up. At present I've managed to install the lower bulwark plank on the port side and it looks good - already I can see that it will be much better than my first attempt. I'm hoping to finish this work before the new semester starts (next Monday) and I get swamped with work again until the Spring....I'll post some photos once it's complete. 
 
Hope you all have a wonderful New Year and best for 2019!
hamilton

So I've completed the bulwarks. They went reasonably well. One issue was that the height of the top of the waterways did not exactly match up with the bottom of the second 3/32" x 1/16" bulwark strake. At points, then, it seemed that the scuppers would have to be filed into the top of the first strake and the bottom of the second one at different points. I could, I suppose, have simple planked the transom and then drilled the scuppers out by hand - a tedious job, but one that would have resulted in more even scuppers. As it is, I went for the easier solution - the result is that on both the port and starboard side, there is a little step in the scuppers of the quartedeck about half way along. It's not totally unsightly, but it may prove to be annoying enough that I'll remove the bulwark planking and redo it, this time drilling the scuppers out (though with this technique they won't be the right shape....arghh!!)
 
Anyway, here are some photos. Apart from the issue with the scuppers, it's pretty rough looking at the moment. I'll spend a couple of days thinking about the bulwarks and cleaning them up a bit and then seeing how I feel about them overall before I decide whether to move on or redo them....bye for now.
hamilton

Another long overdue update. I have done a good bit of work over the last few months, but again have been bad with the documentation.
 
Anyway...Standing rigging is complete. Again, obviously I did a ton of work with no updates. That was no mere few days of effort. 
 
I've also gotten the boom and gaff rigged. Line is from a variety of sources and all of the blocks are from Syren. Finally the launch was installed and secured in place. 

Cannons looking great OC!  Are you doing hauling tackles?  Must be pretty tiny at 1:72.

Cannons looking great OC!  Are you doing hauling tackles?  Must be pretty tiny at 1:72.

Post 58
Boom Crutches.
Interesting little project to make these and I am grateful to Chuck's guide on the subject.
I  originally started with a 12mm wide strip cut from some 1/4" Boxwood sheet. but I found that I ran out of angle to give me sufficient height.
For my subsequent attempts I used 15 x 20mm section- and there were several futile attempts to get something that looked even barely acceptable.
The block is secured on the transom with a strip of double sided tape to mark the fashion piece angles, and the process of filing and sanding begins.

5101
These crutches are quite small and awkward little things to hold and shape so I reach the point where I think it better to glue them to the transom and finish off shaping with both hands available.

5110
Using a jury rig to assist with the rotation of the crutch.
Chuck makes the point that it should turn somewhat inwards to receive the boom.

5144
Even so a couple were glued on only to be ripped off when I found the opposing one looked better, and so it went on.
A couple of the sad little rejects lie on the deck.

5139
Eventually I convinced myself that the resulting pair didn't look too bad a match and I resolved to permanently fix them.

5153
They seem very vulnerable sitting up there atop the rail so I added a bolt thro' the crutch and into the transom.

5154
In this shot the completed Transom knees can also be seen.
I pondered a little over the colour scheme for the knees but eventually decided on red as they were below the level of the rail, and to my eye looked less heavy than black.
The retaining bolt heads  can also be seen; I did wonder whether to include these, but I felt they should be there, and they do seem be shown on Chuck's plan.

5170

5172
The Fashion pieces were also painted black at this point.

5166
The internal lead discharge piping for the Seats of ease was added. Totally unnecessary of course and will probably never see the light of day again, but I know they are there.

5161
The circular outlet flanges were represented by flattened slices of Aluminium tubing, chemically blackened.

5168

5152
So where to next, I think I will tackle the Timberheads, and make a few cleats but I also need to consider whether to fit Swivel posts.
 
I have been having second thoughts about this. Neither of the historical models of either Cheerful or Surly are fitted with swivels and all the cutter examples I have seen with swivels date from the mid to late 18th Century and of course Cheerful is an early 19th century cutter.
However, Lavery (Arming and Fitting) does indicate their use on naval ships until 1815, and I can imagine that a couple of swivels in the stern and bow areas would prove useful.
One of the fascinating aspects of our subjects is that there are always more questions than answers.
 
B.E.
04/01/2019
 

Post 56
Inboard Fittings
With the deck laid there are areas requiring re-touching, and the treenails to be added.
I pondered a little about doing the treenails, as I don't think Chuck added them. In the end I decided to add them.
I mixed a fresh batch of filler tinted with a paler tone to fill the around 600 0.6mm holes.

4893
The deck is then re-scraped for a final time before sealing. I use 'Admiralty' brand Flat Matt Varnish. A water based varnish which I don't particularly like, but it does give an unvarnished look to the deck whilst at the same time sealing it.

4897
The treenails are barely visible, which is the effect I was after.

4899
With completion of the deck it's all about fittings from this point on.
Windlass
This is the most prominent and interesting deck fitting on Cheerful, and I am using Chuck's beautifully thought out mini-kit for the purpose.

4865
I have decided to leave the barrel of the windlass natural but paint the standards red.
Associated with the windlass is the Bowsprit Step and pawls Bitt; these are assembled next. Again I have used a Chuck mini kit; it fits together with very little adjustment and very nice it is too.

4862

4863
Not completed at this point, these two items along with the Bowsprit will be considered together a little later in the build.
Elm Tree Pumps
Once again I avail myself of Chuck's little mini kit.
The provided square stock for the body does need converting into the traditional octagonal shape, and for this I bring a little 'V' jig into use, last used on my Pegasus build.

4944
The body parts are only 20mm long so it helps to have a method of securing them whilst the octagons are formed.

4952
A busy day in the workshop, and Cheerful has to make way on the bench.
The body does need drilling out and the centres were marked prior to shaping.

4948
The hollow centres were drilled out on my mill using a 3mm bit.
A little bit of fettlin' of pump handle and brackets and they're ready to assemble.

4970
For the iron bands around the body I use slices of heat shrink tubing, a thing I favour for this type of feature.

4966
Undecided as yet whether to leave the Brake handles and discharge pipes natural.
 
There is still the Winch to do but Shock, horror, 😲 I find there is no comforting little mini kit from Chuck which means I must shake myself out of complacency and do a bit of scratching.
So this seems to be a good point to end the posts for 2018 and thank all my fellow builders for their interest, support, and help over the past twelve months.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from me and my stalwart Shipyard Assistant, William.
 
B.E
21/12/2018
 
 

Kind words, thank you Wallace and Martin. 🙂
Post 54
A question lavatorial
I now turn my attention to the stern area to fit the platform containing the 'seats of ease'
Chuck has used 1/32" sheet to form the construction parts, as have I.

4857
A trial and error (mostly error) job this with multiple tweaks to get it anywhere near right.

4876
Fitting these surely does mess up the paintwork at the stern, re-finishing will be required.

4877
Chuck has included two 'seats of ease'  at the stern of Cheerful; seems quite generous considering that a first rate only had six for the whole crew, excluding officers.
I had wondered about the prominent position of these  'facilities' at the stern as modelled, but these items as shown on the Upper deck plan of Cheerful, appear to be 'seats of ease'

Upper deck of Cheerful.
 
The holes on the model plan initially looked quite large to my eye, but they are only  a scale 7.5" diameter. As for position on the platform I requested the Commander to check that their location provided a practical seating position.

4879
He seems quite at ease.
Apparently in naval circles  it was considered  good manners to use the Lee side seat of easement if at all possible.
Anyway I digress,
I wonder if in reality  these small platforms would have been planked rather than solid sheet?
I also wonder if in practice they would really have been painted, presumably being scrubbed down and also used for access to the Taffrail, or a height advantage point on the cutter.
All speculation of course , but examples of cutters I have seen with small aft platforms all were planked and in some cases used to mount Stern chasers.

4888
Purely for my own amusement I planked over the card template I used to make the platform using thin boxwood strip, to see what it looked like before I committed to the real thing.
Once again obsessing over minutiae, to paint or not to paint, to plank or not to plank, one hole or two.
There is such scant information on the subject, particularly for small vessels.
 
B.E.
15/12/2018
 

Thanks Thomas🙂
 
Post 53
Completing the decking.
The last four strakes include hooded planks where otherwise the planks would taper too narrowly.
I rather enjoy making hooded planks and they make for an interesting feature, a change from the more familiar 'joggled' arrangement.
7/32" and 9/32" wide strips were used to form the hoods, a fairly painless process.
The final strakes against the margin plank also require 9/32" strips.
To form these I use a Tamiya tape pattern to form a template to produce these final planks.

4807
The final plank marked for spiling.

4826
Completion!
A process of scraping the decks now ensues, I don't sand decks. I will use Admiralty Flat Matt Varnish to seal the surface.
Some photo's to record the twelve month point of this build so far.

4838

4832

4837

4836
The eagle eyed will notice that I have cut out holes in the Main hatch grating to allow passage of the anchor cables.

4834
This marks  completion of this major milestone in the build.
Fitting the rudder beckons....
 
B.E.
07/12/2018